The day started wrong. Kaylin had a sneaking suspicion that they always did. Waking up was always a bad idea, especially on days where the first thing she heard were Mandoran and Bellusdeo shouting. Wondering why Helen wasn't blocking the sound, Kaylin realized that there was a third, quieter, voice in the mix. Severn's. She forced herself to her feet and slid on some pants. Her dress from last night had been carefully hung - Helen's work, no doubt, since Kaylin vaguely remembered tossing it on a chair - and Kaylin dug around in her mostly clean pile for a shirt. Finding one, she pulled it over her head and made her way downstairs.
"Why did you let him in?" Kaylin asked the empty corridor.
"Did you want me to leave him at the door?" Helen countered, coming up beside her. Kaylin frowned at the question. There was a large part of her - the part that was hurt and confused - that strongly said yes. There was also, however, the part of her who had loved Severn for so much of her life and wanted to forgive him, wanted to go back to the way things had been and see him as the person she had once believed him to be.
"I… don't know," Kaylin admitted.
"Which is why I had to make a choice, dear. It is not easy to stop loving someone, even if they hurt you." Kaylin thought of her Baranni friends, then.
"What does he want?" Kaylin asked, because he was apparently refusing to answer Bellusdeo and Mandoran's questions.
"He has mastered silence," Helen told her apologetically, "so I am uncertain. I can assure you, however, that he does not mean harm."
"He didn't mean harm last time, either," Kaylin replied bitterly as they entered the highly contested foyer. Everyone fell silent at her arrival. "What do you want, Severn?"
"I'd like to speak to you alone," he replied, almost angrily. Kaylin glared at him.
"After last time, do you honestly think I want to speak with you?"
"Kaylin, do you really want to meet your father for the first time at an Imperial ball?" Bellusdeo snorted smoke at the question.
"He's not my father!" Kaylin shouted. Mandoran was watching the argument like it was a really interesting game. That didn't improve Kaylin's mood any as it certainly wasn't a game to her.
"Yes, he is, and he would like to meet you!" Kaylin opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head. She had rarely seen Severn so angry, but she was far, far, angrier, and within her own home she was free to ignore his temper.
"I need food," she announced to the room in general. Teela's warning about speaking to the human Castelord at the ball echoed in her head, but she was hurt that Severn had shown up with Caste Court business instead of - what she could admit to herself she had been hoping for - an apology.
"How is the Hawklord?" Bellusdeo questioned, taking a seat across from her. Mandoran and Annarion followed them in.
"I haven't checked this morning, but his breathing was better last night." She had spent hours sitting beside him, simply watching the rise and fall of his chest as he slept. It was the reason she had slept so little. The Dragon smiled at her.
"I'm glad." Kaylin smiled back, despite Severn's loud silence in the room.
"That reminds me, how was your dancing class?" Kaylin asked around a mouthful of food. Severn chose the seat next to her and Kaylin did her best to ignore him. Usually, that was easy; she was so used to having him around. Not today, however.
"It was…good," Bellusdeo replied, seeming almost hesitant. Kaylin's eyebrows shot up. What was that about? Dragons didn't do hesitation well. They were too fire and brimstone for that. "Diarmat reminded me on the way out that we are due for etiquette class tonight."
"I know," Kaylin groaned.
"How's the investigation going?" Mandoran asked, digging into his food. Kaylin glanced at him in surprise.
"Do you care?" She asked more out of curiosity than anything else. He shrugged lazily at her.
"Teela's been in a mood since the attack," Kaylin grimaced, definitely not wanting to share Teela's head when she got like that, "and hearing about that has to be more interesting than listening to you two talk about dance and etiquette."
"Not even close," Teela said entering the room with Tain on her heels, "and I'm not certain we should be talking about it, regardless." She sent a pointed, blue-eyed look at Severn and Kaylin startled. It had never occurred to her that she couldn't speak freely in front of him. Kaylin felt a pang at the thought of what was lost. Or what, as she now realized, had never been there in the first place.
"I don't think Severn is part of the attack," Kaylin began hesitantly. Teela pulled out a chair, and threw herself into it in a way that didn't really acknowledge the fact that it was a dinning chair not one for lounging.
"I'm not saying he's part of the attack, Kitling, but if he's got ties to the Human Caste Court and the Wolves, which loyalty has precedence?" Kaylin understood then, viscerally, what Andellen had been trying to say.
"I am not compromised," Severn told Teela. Teela sceptically raised a brow.
"So after not meeting his daughter for twenty-one years, he just so happens to want an introduction while we're in the middle of an investigation?" Teela wasn't buying it and after thinking about it for a minute, Kaylin wasn't sure she was, either.
"I was the one who told Kaylin," he argued, "and as they will be meeting in a few days regardless, it will be best for them to be introduced away from prying eyes."
"And how do you propose doing that?" Annarion asked, watching Severn carefully.
"Come to the Caste Court as part of your investigations," he replied promptly.
"How the hells does 'in front of the damn Caste Court' count as private?" Kaylin asked incredulously.
"No one will look past the Hawk, Kaylin," he told her. "If you're curious or respond badly, they can dismiss it. After a couple minutes, the Castelord can lead you and your escort away to speak privately." Kaylin opened her mouth to say no.
"Alright," Teela decided, because how Kaylin met her father was apparently not her decision to make. Just then, Andellen entered the dinning room. He bowed to Teela and Kaylin before taking a seat. Kaylin was sure that everyone noticed he had not offered a bow to Severn. Kaylin suspected if Severn's eyes shifted according to his mood they would have shifted then. Then again, he'd been tense and angry all morning, so maybe not. "We'll take the kitling to the damn Caste Court, but we'll be the escort." Count on the Baranni to make a social visit sound profoundly threatening. "What time?"
"This afternoon," Severn replied immediately. Teela nodded.
"If you'll excuse us then, we've got bloody Records to wade through." Kaylin groaned and got to her feet. Andellen and Tain kept their displeasure to themselves while Bellusdeo exhaled hers in a smokey cloud. Annarion and Mandoran got up with them.
"From what Teela has said, I think we'll skip this," Mandoran commented as they left the room. Kaylin didn't blame them; if she could, she'd skip this, too.
"You should both continue your lessons, boys," Helen commented, coming up beside them. "I'll see Severn out," she continued, before Kaylin could address the Hawk/Wolf/Other still sitting in the dinning room. Nodding, Kaylin followed her guests as they settled around the mirror, getting ready for a long and boring screening. It took two hours of them watching to find what they were looking for.
"There," Tain said sharply, halting the Records.
"Human," Teela murmured in surprise. "At least we'll have some legitimate questions to ask the Castelord this afternoon."
"If we're assuming this person is an Arcanist instead of an Imperial Mage, there can't be many humans among their numbers," Kaylin speculated.
"Not many, no," Teela agreed.
"Is it just me, or does his face look blurry?" Kaylin would acknowledge the inferiority of mortal eyesight, but normally even she could make out a face right in front of her.
"Magical illusions don't show up well in Records," Teela told her.
"They typically aren't recommended for races that don't have more than one form since seeing themselves as someone completely different can lead to cognitive dissonance," Bellusdeo added, earning a glance form the Baranni in the room. Before Kaylin could ask what the hell 'cognitive dissonance' was, Teela spoke.
"Does this not apply to Dragons?" The Baranni woman asked. Bellusdeo shrugged.
"We are not attached to our physical forms in the way members of other races appear to be. When I was young, attempts were made to understand the phenomenon in others, but if conclusions were reached, I was not around to hear them."
"Lord Kaylin," Andellen began, "I am not familiar with Aerians. Are you acquainted with the one there?" Turning back Kaylin saw what Andellen was pointing to. Just at the inner edge of the landing pad, heading towards the Aeries, was an Aerian. She appeared to be waiting for the Arcanist.
"No," Kaylin replied. "Replay it," she added distractedly. They watched it three times, but Kaylin could only catch a glimpse of her face.
"Capture image," Teela drawled on their fourth viewing. "Let's have Moran come here and see if she can identify the assassin's accomplice."
"I think this is a good place to break, dears," Helen said, walking in. "If you're all headed to the Caste Court this afternoon, Kaylin should bathe and eat before going." Teela snorted.
"That's true. If we go without feeding the kitling first, it'll be her stomach that announces us." Tain and Bellusdeo both snickered, earning a dirty look from Kaylin. Andellen, with unquestionably the best manners of anyone in the room, kept his mouth shut. "I wouldn't mind a bath myself," Teela added, getting to her feet.
Kaylin trailed after her, wondering why Teela wanted to speak with her privately. They entered the bathroom with a large, beautiful pool of water sink into the ground. Slightly scented steam wafted up from the water. They stripped quickly and slipped into the water. Kaylin sighed, amazed she could have such a luxurious bath in her own home.
"Kitling," Teela said, looking at her in blue-eyed concern, "how are the lessons with Lord Nightshade going?"
"Um," Kaylin faltered, because there was no way she ready to talk about how he was making her feel. Teela's eyes darkened at the blush on her face.
"Do you think it's just coincidence that he is paying more attention to you at the moment?" Kaylin frowned.
"He's not involved in the attack on the Hawklord, Teela," Kaylin replied, surprised to find she was more certain of his innocence than Severn's. Teela shook her head making her hair flutter in the water.
"I meant Severn," Teela said, although that didn't really clarify anything for Kaylin. "Nightshade is seducing you" Kaylin blushed heavily at the term, although she was aware she couldn't deny it, "while you are in the midst of fighting with Severn. Do you think his timing is an accident?" Kaylin frowned, not having considered the matter. The Hawklord's injuries and her fight with Severn had left her so distracted that she had failed to see the obvious.
"You're saying he's taking advantage of the fact that I'm mad at Severn to…"
"Win you over, yes." Teela sighed. "Up until recently, I would have said that Severn is your safer option if you're looking for a lover. Given recent disclosures, however, I'm not certain that either one of them qualifies as safe for you."
"Nightshade won't hurt me," Kaylin replied, because she couldn't say as much about Severn. Severn knew her, better than she knew herself, so there was no way he wouldn't have realized how much his actions would hurt her. Teela raised a brow at her words, but didn't address them.
"I believe Severn's feelings for you are what led him to make such a precipitous announcement," Teela offered. Kaylin considered Teela's point then shrugged.
"It doesn't really matter how he told me, Teela. He's been lying to me my entire life and I never knew. There was no way I was going to be happy finding out." Teela nodded in acceptance.
"Before I took the Test of Name," Teela began, in what seemed like an abrupt change of topic, "a young man began paying attention to me. He flattered me, courted me, treated me as if I had value. Compared to the suspicion and contempt I typically faced, he had very little difficulty winning my regard. It was only later that I learned that he had suspected I would pass the Test of Name and had engineered things so that he would already be in my favour when I did." Kaylin wanted to reach out and comfort Teela, but knew better than to offer sympathy to any Baranni.
Was this the same as her situation with Nightshade? Kaylin knew that he saw her as a potential power and was interested in her for that reason. It was the rest, the flickers of something that slipped through their connection that perplexed her. She thought, if he only saw her as a potential tool, that she would be far less confused than she was at the moment.
"I… I know he thinks of me as a tool, Teela, but… that's not all he sees me as," she replied hesitantly. Teela met her eyes for a moment before shrugging.
"I just don't want you to get hurt, kitling," Teela said, reaching out to brush Kaylin's hair back. "Now let me wash your hair; it needs it."